"I love this club to bits" - Jay Stansfield issues clear Birmingham City claim | OneFootball

Jay Stansfield spoke to Sky Sports after his brace against Wrexham last night

Jay Stansfield bagged his first goals back in the blue of Birmingham City on Tuesday night, helping his side to overcome Wrexham 3-1 after falling behind early on.

The son of former Exeter City striker Adam rejoined the Blues from Fulham on deadline day for a reported fee of over £15m, annihilating the League One transfer record Birmingham had already set that summer.

With such a price being paid at that level, all eyes were on the striker as he made his second league debut for the Midlands club last night.

However, it was clear the famous Alan Shearer "pressure is for tyres" quote from Euro 2024 certainly applied to young Jay, as he scored twice to help his side overcome fellow promotion chasers Wrexham.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Stansfield responded to questions about dealing with the pressure such a price tag would bring.

Stansfield: "I love this club to bits"

A natural-born finisher just like his father, the attacker scored 13 times last season during his loan spell with the St. Andrews outfit. Reassuringly for Birmingham fans, that kind of form in front of goal shows no sign of letting up after his brace last night.

The fear of a debut that could potentially wreck his confidence if it didn't go as planned was in the air, but thoughts of that were soon squashed when the record signing pounced on a shot that was spilled by Arthur Okonkwo to level the game.

Early in the second half, Alex Cochrane's delightful cross was met by the head of Stansfield to give Chris Davies' side the lead, before Tomoki Iwata sealed the victory minutes later.

The man of the moment stated he wants to: "Go out every week and prove to people who think it's the wrong decision or think whatever" in an interview with Sky Sports after the game. It's clear to see that the man from Tiverton's mind is focused solely on helping his side win immediate promotion back to the Championship, rather than the hefty fee they paid to bring him back to the club. He added to this by saying: "[I will] work hard for the team and I know my qualities."

"I love this club to bits, and I'm going to go out every week and perform for them" he continued. With a run of tricky fixtures approaching, the Blues will find great confidence in Stansfield getting back into the swing of things at the first opportunity.

Pressure is on every player at Birmingham, not just Stansfield

In League One over recent seasons, there have been plenty of big clubs who would be expected to be in the Premier League or Championship and find it extremely difficult to secure promotion.

Sunderland, Ipswich, and Sheffield Wednesday are just a few of these examples. Whilst they have the financial muscle to afford better players than most other clubs, the big price tags often command a high level of pressure, which some players crumble under.

Birmingham are no different, but with the amount of money spent and the expectation of the fans to easily win the league, the pressure cooker that is St. Andrew's will swallow any players whole if they fail to live up to expectations. However, it seems that there's currently no danger of that happening, especially after last night's performance.

The man with the biggest price in the star-studded squad insists: "There's pressure every game, for every player. So I don't think it's just for me". This suggests the players are well aware of the expectations weighing on their shoulders from an enormous and passionate fanbase. But, it seems like Davies has taken the examples of the previously mentioned clubs to boot and is making sure his players don't succumb to a similar fate.

According to GiveMeSport, the Blues have spent an estimated £29m on players this summer, which is unlike anything ever seen in League One before. When their rivals are spending just a fraction of that sort of money, the obvious expectation would be to wipe the floor with the competition.

Birmingham's league position after a strong start to the season

Last night's result moves Davies' side up to 2nd in League One. Whilst it's still early doors and the league remains compact, the first-time manager will be pleased that his side has collected a total of 13 points from an available 15 in their opening five matches.

It's now four wins on the bounce for the side part-owned by NFL superstar Tom Brady, three of which came before the introduction of Stansfield into the side.

With results like this and the quality of signings made, it seems like the only way is up for Birmingham as they march towards an instant return to the Championship.

With all eyes in the footballing world on the Midlands last night, the Blues remained unfazed by the gravity and spotlight of the task at hand, which bodes well for their chances in their upcoming games.